Spotlight: Kaitlyn Wallace Art

Artist Kaitlyn Wallace creates stunning imagery of the female form

Kaitlyn Wallace is a 23-year-old interdisciplinary artist from Las Vegas, Nevada, who received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in painting from the University of Oregon in 2020.

Impressed with her artwork, we connected with Kaitlyn to learn more about her background and her inspirations. Here’s what she had to say:

“I’ve enjoyed being creative as long as I can remember, but I didn’t take art very seriously until I was about 16/17. That’s around the age I started to be more considerate about what kind of artist I wanted to be, what I was making and where that work belonged.”

“I am interested in making art that facilitates conversations around freedom, autonomy, futility, and suffering. Growing up in Las Vegas and attending Catholic school, my influences surrounding womanhood were polarizing. Whether it was in Church or on a billboard, representations of women were an overwhelming object of my environment.By appropriating Christian iconography and combining it with the hyper-sexual aesthetics of Las Vegas, I paint images that reflect and further complicate ideologies related to the body, social conditioning, and self-realization.”

“I have always been inspired by Las Vegas, where I was born and raised. I also attended Catholic school growing up so my influences around womanhood were polarizing. Whether that was in the Church or on a billboard, both ideas of womanhood felt objectifying to me.”

“By appropriating from Baroque iconography and combining it with hyper-sexual aesthetics of Las Vegas, I try to focus on the conflict between who we are and who we are conditioned to be. Re-contextualizing the imagery of women has felt empowering and I believe that’s what I am in pursuit of.”

“Staying in contact with other artists has kept me motivated this year. Seeing my peers continue to make art makes me want to, as well.”